Forward Playhead in Ecasound Interactive Mode

Controlling the transport dynamically in Ecasound allows you to navigate audio files during playback or recording without stopping the engine. This guide explains how to incrementally advance the playhead position in real time using Ecasound’s interactive mode (EIAM) commands.

Starting Interactive Mode

Launch Ecasound in interactive mode by providing the -c flag along with your audio setup:

ecasound -c -i input.wav -o alsa

Once loaded, type start to begin playback.

Using the Forward Command

To jump forward incrementally from the current playhead position, use the forward command (or its shorthand fw) followed by the number of seconds:

forward [seconds]

or:

fw [seconds]

Examples:

• Advance by 5 seconds:

  forward 5

  or

  fw 5

• Advance by fractional seconds (e.g., half a second):

  fw 0.5

• Advance by several minutes (e.g., 2 minutes / 120 seconds):

  fw 120

Chainsetup Forwarding

If you are managing multiple chainsetups or need explicit chain-level control, use the cs-forward command:

cs-forward 10

This advances the active chainsetup playhead by 10 seconds.

Verifying the Current Position

To check the updated playhead position after forwarding, run:

get-position

or for the chainsetup:

cs-get-position

Both commands return the current transport position in seconds.